To:THEISKRAORGANISATIONS IN RUSSIA

Written:Written prior to December 18, 1901 in Munich.Published:First published in 1928.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1974,

      Moscow,Volume 34,

      pages90-91.Translated:Clemens DuttTranscription\Markup:D. MorosPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2005).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

2)TheMoscow Committee

3)St.Petersburg+Nizhni

5) “ALetter to the Russian Social-Democratic
Press”.[1]

Wehave just learnt that the Unionists are arranging
a conference of the leading committees to decide the
question of the conflict
abroad.[2]

Everyeffort must be made to secure the adoption of the
following measures by the largest possible number of
committees and groups:

1)Theconference must unfailingly be postponed at least
until the spring (until Easter or thereabouts). Reasons:
a) It is essential to have delegatesbothfromIskra andfrom the League abroad, and this requires time and money.
A conference without delegates fromIskraand the League
is invalid and senseless, b) It is essential to wait for the
publication of the pamphlets of both sides giving the gist
of the disagreements. Until these pamphlets come out the
conference cannot have the knowledge needed for
judgement and so its deliberations would be hanging in the air.IskraNo. 12 (appearing December 5, 1901) definitely
promises that this pamphlet will be issued very shortly (in
about a month and a half). All the disagreements will be
analysed there in great detail. We shall show there howpernicioustheRabocheye Dyelotrend is, and reveal all
their disgraceful vacillation and impotence in the face of
Bernsteinism and Economism. This pamphlet is nearly
ready and is rapidly approaching completion. Further, at the
present time (mid-December, new style) reports on thedisagreements are being delivered abroad: one by a
representative ofRabocheye Dyelo, another by a representative
of the League. These reports too will very soon appear in
print, and to call a conference before they appear is just
a waste of money and a needless sacrifice.

2)Weshall send aspecialrepresentative to the
conference, if it does take place. Hence it isimperativethat we
should be informed immediately (1) whether the conference
has been fixed; (2) where; (3) when; and (4) the pass-word
and rendezvous for the conference. The committees and
groups must beformallyrequested to communicate this
information on pain of the conference being declared
invalid and of immediate publication of the fact that there
is a desire to decide matters without having heard both
sides.

3)Ifthe committees or groups elect to the conference
representatives with a bias in favour ofRabocheye Dyelo,
it is essential to protest against this immediately andformally, and to demand representatives fromboth Rabocheye
Dyelo and Iskrasupporters (from the Majority and the
Minority respectively).

4)Inthe event of the conference declaring againstIskra,
it will be necessary towithdrawfrom committees and groups
which do not agree to protest publicly against this—to
withdraw and at once publish the fact inIskraand give
the reasons for it. Our people must begin right now to
make arrangements for such a step.

5)Wemust be informed at once of the result, and kept
informed immediately ofallsteps taken.Every effortshould
be made to ensure thatIskrasupporters everywhere reach
agreement and act in unison.

[1]Thefive points indicate where this letter was to be sent. Point 4 refers
to the Tver Social-Democratic organisation, the letter for which was
forwarded to the address of A. Bakunin. Point 5, given in quotes, is the
title of a letter received from anIskrarepresentative in
Russia. This letter was published by Lenin in full in his article “A
Talk with Defenders of Economism” (see Vol. 5 of this edition). Under
this point Lenin meant theIskrarepresentative from whom the
letter had been received. p. 90

[2]Bythe “conflict abroad” Lenin meant the incident at the
“unity” conference of R.S.D.L.P.’s organisations abroad,
when the members ofIskra,ZaryaandSotsial-Demokratwalked out. p. 90